Month: April 2017

In the heart of the Seven Corners neighborhood on the West Bank of the U of M campus sat an art supply store called Pad-N-Pallet. With a dilapidated sign that matched its dingy and oft neglected windows, it opened into a cramped and dusty store that smelled like linseed oil, varnish and the early 1900’s. Packed floor to ceiling with art supplies: paper, brushes, rolls of canvas… from the beginner brand of Windsor Newton’s to the more refined and pricey Rembrandt oils, she was idyllic in every way, especially to a newly minted art student such as myself. Continue reading “drawing 101”

This was a short movie I made about three years ago showing the progress of my painting Bella Donna. If the girl in the dress looks familiar it should, as it was my rendering of a painting by Mark Ryden.

The painting was finished just a day or two before heading to an exhibit at Gallery 360 where it sold prior to the opening reception. I never really got to live with her before she went to her new home which makes this little movie even more special for me.

My mom is, well, my mom. She has been many things over the course of her life, a choir director and church cantor, a master gardener, a cellist in the St Anthony community orchestra, a ceramists, a china painter, a writer, a crazed knitter and for the last 6 years an obsessed–beyond–reason crossword doerer. While she has been all of those things, the thing that she has been the most, and she will be the first to say it, is still a mom. The second thing she has been the most, although it isn’t listed as one of her roles above, but more so because of them, is an inspiration. Continue reading “32,850”

My toilet has been running for about three months. Although I’ve been to Home Depot multiple times during those three months, I have yet to purchase the requisite replacement tank innards, even though it is a simple job. At first it was out of pure laziness. Then after thinking about it for a while it was more out of stubbornness, like I was thinking to myself, “I replaced those innards only 15 years ago… they should still be good for another 15 to 20 years. They sure don’t make toilet innards like they used to.” Then I thought to myself, “Holy crap I’m starting to sound like my mom. I gotta stop thinking this type of stuff to myself. I should just fix the dang thing and forget I ever even had those thoughts… and who says tank innards anyways?” Continue reading “zen (part two)”

I often hear people reference and quote Martin Luther King Jr. using his name as I just wrote it. I also hear people use the variations MLK and Dr. Martin Luther King or just Dr. King. I rarely see the use of his other title whether spoken or written, the more formal title of The Reverend Doctor. I find this curious as King was by his own accounts, as I have come to understand it, first and foremost a Christian minister and considered his civil rights work to be largely the result of his larger Christian ministry, influenced first and foremost by the Biblical teachings of Jesus. This aspect of King is often omitted or downplayed when discussing him as a civil rights leader. Perhaps the exclusion or overshadowing of his title as Reverend and as such, his faith, shouldn’t shock me as there seems to be a deliberate push away from all that religious “gobbly gook” in favor for a more “logical” and “reasoned” scientific approach to the universe around us. While I won’t tell anyone else how to think or what to believe by way of faith and spirituality, this tendency to stray away from the religious “hocus pocus” does bother me a wee bit. Continue reading “april 4th (short version)”

From the people to the conversation to the art on the wall, last night was magical. I want to thank everyone who was able to attend the opening reception and gave the gallery such a wonderful air of community. Your support for the visual arts in Minneapolis is one of the things that make this city such a wonderful place to live. I also want to thank the artists for sharing their amazing talent and giving us such a great reason to gather. (to see a few images from the opening… continue reading) Continue reading “danke schön”

ABOUT

Nicholas Harper is an artist, owner of the Rogue Buddha Gallery in Minneapolis since 1999, curator of the arts and culture journal Amorous Vespertine and now editor of roguebuddhism.com

This site is a creative playground for all that tickles Harper’s fancy.

These pages will be riddled with personal stories, insights about the Rogue Buddha Gallery and the arts in general, essays and opinion pieces, fictional stories, gallery updates and posts related to his work and the artists he loves and exhibits.

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